Footrest for vehicles



W. T. JACOBS FQOTREST FOR VEHICLES June 4, 1940.

Filed July 26, 1939 elevated relative to the floor and at a predeterfootrests in ambulances, they may be used in o Patented June 4, 1940 I UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFEQE FOOTREST FOR VEHICLES Walter T. Jacobs, Freeport, Ill., assignor to Henney Motor Company, Freeport, 111., a corporation of Delaware Application July 26, 1939, Serial No. 2%,665

5 Claims. (01. 296-75) This invention relates to footrests for vehicles. of my invention are designed to lie flush with The principal object of my invention is to prothe floor II when disposed in retracted position,- vide a footrest designed to be raised from a posilike the footrest 5 in Fig. 1. It will soon appear tion flush with the floor to an operative position that while I have referred to the use of these mined angle with respect thereto for handy and automobiles generally and in any other vehicle. comfortable engagement by the feet of the user. wherever footrests operating in the manner de-,

I am aware that numerous types of retractible scribed may be found useful. The invention is or disappearing footrests have been proposed, but furthermore not limited to use of the footrests in they have invariably been subject to certain serivehicles. 10 ous objections. The objection I consider most Each footrest comprises a toe or foot board 12 serious is that they were apt to collapse under foot swingable on a pair of arms Iii-43' disposed in pressure. It is therefore the principal object of p ral e p ced relation adjacent Opposite ends my invention to provide a footrest which, when of the foot board and pivotally mounted on a 15 elevated for use, is securely locked in the operacross-rod i, which in turn is slidably and 16 tive position, although it requires only light prespivotally mounted in horizontal slots l5 in the sure in the proper direction to release the footopposite en p r ns 6 of n inver ed ch nnelrest for movement to retracted position flush with p d s t metal b a ket ii that s suitably sic-'- the floor. cured to the bottom of the floor H by its cross- 20 A salient feature of this footrest is its slidable p r i n 8. E of th rms 3-l3' i of o se 2o pivotal mounting and the provision f spring neck form, having an arcuate outer end portion means tending to move the same in one direction, N st 011 an e W e rod M as a e so that when the foot rest is raised, it auto-- the extremities of said end porti s is having an matically becomes locked in the raised operative attaching portion 20 thereon vfor ur he position and thereafter does not depend upon the arms to the bottom of the foot board as y 25 operator exercising special care to see to it that means 0f b01135 2|. The T1001 H is 01117 w y, as the footrest remains locked in such position, the at 22, t0 D an Opening f r t e fOOt boar-d spring pressure being incidentally i forward l2, and a sheet metal plate 23 is secured to the direction, so that, in the event of sudden stopping under Side Of the T1001 Spanning the pe of the vehicle, the increased foot pressure against and forming a Closure therefor W en t e f0ot 30 the footrest only increases its positive locking board is 1101? disposed in the p n This action, as distinguished from many of the earlier plate also Serves as a pp t fo the foot board proposed constructions, l2 in the retracted position thereof, as indicated The invention is illustrated in the accompanyin dotted lines in At 4 is indicated a ing drawi in which. cross-piece beneath the floor ll onto which is 35 Fig. 1 is a longitudinal vertical section through bolted an angle iron member as ndicated a, portion of the body of an ambulance, showing at 25. One flange 21 Of this angle lIOIi member footrests provided in accordance with my invens disposed horizontally under e p e D tion, one being shown in raised operative posijccting toward the os -rod i4. Notches 28 40 tion and the other in retracted position; are out in the outer edge of the flange 21 in which 40 Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the the arcuate portions 19 of the arms l3l3 are forward footrest, indicating in dotted lines the da D d w Notc cs 9 are cut in retracted position thereof, and the outer periphery of the arcuate portions I9 Fig. 3 is a plan view of Fig. 2, omitting the near the lower ends thereof to receive the flange floor, so as to reveal the footrest bracket there- 21 for support of the arms l in raised p 46 beneath. tion, and two coiled tension springs 3030' act- The same reference numerals are applied to ing between the angle iron member 25 and corresponding parts throughout the views. notched portions of the rod l4 adjacent opposite In Fig. 1, I have shown footrests at 4 and 5 ends of the latter, as at 3|, act to urge the arms 50 in front of the seats 6 and 1, respectively, in an |3--l3 toward detachable interlocked relation- 50 ambulance 8. The latter has side doors, one of ship with the member 25. The springs 30 are which is indicated at 9, and also a back door l0. suitably secured at their other ends to the angle In such a vehicle, it is obviously highly important, iron mem er 25 by lts, One f which is indithat the floor be clear of any obstructions while cated at 32 in Fig. 2. The plate 23 is slotted,

loading and unloading, and the footrests 4- and 5 as at 33, in vertical alignment with the notches 5;

28 in the flange 21 for operation of the arcuate portions IQ of the arms I 3-l3' through said plate. The foot board I2 will have one or more rings 34 pivotally mounted in recesses 35 provided therefor in the top of the foot board, whereby to facilitate raising the footrest to operative position, these rings 34 being swingable outwardly from the foot board, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2.

In operation, when the foot board I2 is in retracted position, the arcuate portion IQ of the arms Iii-I3 are held under tension of the springs 30-30 in engagement with the flange 21 so that there is no likelihood of the parts rattling when the vehicle is in motion. On the other hand, the

spring pressure is not heavy enough to interfere with easy raising of the foot board l2 by means of the rings 34 provided thereon. When the notches 29 come into register with the flange 21, the footrest is automatically locked in relation to the angle iron member 25 under action of the springs 30-30'. The thrust of the springs being in a forward direction, it is obvious that sudden application of the brakes of the evhicle results only in increased locking pressure as the thrust of the feet of the user against the foot board I? is added to the thrust of the springs. There is therefore no danger of the footrest collapsing accidentally. To lower the footrest, the user may simply apply pressure with his heel against the forward edge of the foot board in a rearward direction, at the same time applying downward pressure on the foot board, so that as soon as the arcuate portion IQ of the arms l3|3' are unlocked from the angle iron member 25, the foot board l2 will drop into place in the opening 22, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2. The footrest is then flush with the floor. The construction is obviously simple, economical, and durable. Once installed, the footrest will never require attention and will operate satisfactorily indefinitely.

It is believed the foregoing description conveys a good understanding of the objects and advantages of my invention. The appended claims have been drawn to cover all legitimate modifications and adaptations.

I claim:

1. The combination in a footrest of a foot board, a pair of pivoted supporting arms having arcuate outer end portions rigidly attached to said foot board, an abutment member in front of said arms to receive and support the arcuate portions thereof, spring means urging said arms bodily forward toward said abutment, and a support rearwardly located relative to said foot board on which said arms are slidably and pivotally mounted.

2. In a vehicle, a footrest capable of receding level with the vehicle floor, comprising a supporting closure plate rigidly attached beneath the vehicle floor covering a foot board opening provided therein, a cross-member under the floor, an angle iron member mounted thereon with one of its flanges horizontally disposed under said opening, a foot board fitting said opening, and supporting arms pivotally supported relative to said floor behind said angle iron member and having notched arcuate portions working through slots in said closure plate and springpressed toward detachable locking engagement with said flange of said angle iron member, said arcuate portions supporting said foot board.

3. In a footrest construction, a bracket rigidly attached to the underside of a vehicle floor, having an elongated opening formed parallel with said floor, a cross-shaft slidable therein, a foot board fitting an opening provided therefor in the floor, supporting arms carried on said crossshaft and carrying said foot board, a keeper in front of said arms, notched ratchets movable with the shaft for detachable locking engagement with the keeper, and spring means urging said shaft and the ratchets therewith in the direction of said keeper.

4. In a vehicle, the combination of a floor level .z.

type footrest foot board, a retractable finger pull on top thereof, a pair of arcuate arms rigidly affixed to the underside of said foot board, a supporting bracket having slotted end portions,

a shaft journaled in the slots thereof, arms for :l

supporting said foot board for up and down swinging movement pivoted on said shaft and having arcuate outer end portions carrying said foot board, said arcuate portions having notches in the outer edges to engage the edge of a flange on another supporting bracket disposed in forwardly spaced substantially parallel relation to said first bracket, and coiled tension springs acting between the second bracket and said shaft to urge the arms toward locked relationship with said flange.

5. A collapsible footrest for vehicles comprising in combination with a vehicle floor having an opening provided therein for a foot board in retracted position, of a foot board to fit in said opening, supporting means therefor beneath the floor supporting the foot board in the opening flush with the floor, means under the floor providing a slidable, pivotal mounting for said foot board, spring means normally urging the foot board forward in relation to the vehicle to resiliently engage locking means in its raised operative position relative to the floor and to prevent rattling when the foot board is lowered into the floor opening, and locking means partly on the foot board and partly rigid with the floor arranged to be lockingly engaged in the raised position and only frictionally slidably engaged in the lowered position of the foot board.

WALTER T. JACOBS. 

